Handmade with Love: The Impact of Charity Crafting

For the month of April, we are taking a good look at our stashes during the SweetGeorgia Spring Stash-Down. In our first post, A Fresh Start in Stash Organization, we explored ways to air out, organize, and assess our yarn and fibre collections. If you’ve been participating, you might have come across yarns you know you won’t use due to colour, fibre content, yarn weight, or maybe unfinished projects that no longer spark joy or no longer match your style. Instead of letting these yarns go unused or projects sit untouched, why not put them to good use by crafting for charity?

This week, we’re diving into ways to give back to the community with your stash. Whether it’s finishing half-finished works in progress (WIPs) for donation, frogging projects and gifting the yarn to makers in need, or crafting something new for charity, there are so many ways to share what we have. While some organizations have material restrictions, many are eager to receive handmade goods, yarn, and supplies. If you have time, materials, or completed items to share, we encourage you to explore ways to give back.

The Asante Cowl is a free pattern, perfect for stash-busting scraps and making a thoughtful charitable donation. Photography by Marissa Jean.

Charlotte’s Charitable Heart

Charlotte Lee is a familiar face at SweetGeorgia, as she is featured in many of our patterns. As our Assistant Production Manager, she plays a key role behind the scenes, but she is also an incredible instructor, teaching crochet, dyeing, and felting at the School of SweetGeorgia as well as writes many articles for our site. Also, she is a talented designer, speed knitter, and passionate spinner; Charlotte is always creating and inspiring us. What many may not know is that she also knits a lot of hats for her local charity through her church, providing warmth and comfort to those in need. Her dedication is an inspiration, showing how small acts of kindness can make a big impact.

Knitting Hats for Charity

Charlotte’s journey of knitting hats for charity began over a decade ago through her church, and it’s been a passion ever since. While at university, she would knit during lectures, creating a new hat every two days or about three a week. At first, Charlotte thought she would only be a hat knitter, but after joining SweetGeorgia, she discovered a whole world of possibilities, from cozy sweaters to comfy socks. But still, she continues to knit 1-2 hats each week.

Charlotte Lee knitting hats at the SweetGeorgia studio on a lunch break.

Finding Materials & Time

Charlotte finds yarn from all sorts of places: leftovers from her own projects, donations from SweetGeorgia staff, and “seconds” from the studio sales. She also loves hunting at thrift stores and catching sales at Michaels. Plus, the SweetGeorgia Knit at Noon group and her church members generously pitch in to support her efforts.

To fit in time for knitting, Charlotte works on her hats during lunch and dinner breaks. The rest of her time is reserved for her own craft projects, but this short, dedicated time allows her to make between 50-100 hats a year, all for a good cause.

Lighthouse Harbour Ministries

Charlotte’s charity, Lighthouse Harbour Ministries, focuses solely on hats, which are given to sailors working on boats. In addition to the hats, the charity provides baked goods and entertainment, for the sailors during their off-shift hours. Two ships arrive every night, bringing sailors from around the world, and the need for hats is constant. The charity provides a simple beanie-style pattern with 1×1 ribbing. They accept any adult-sized hats of any material but prefer darker colours, as lighter ones tend to get dirty more quickly from working hands.

This is just a small stack of some of the hats Charlotte has made this year for her charity crafting!

Finding Charities For Handcrafted Items

Looking Local

There are many ways to find organizations in need of handmade donations. Here are some ideas to help you get started in crafting for charity:

• Internet Search: A quick search for local charities and shelters will display organizations looking for handmade goods.
• Reddit, Ravelry, & Online Forums: Many city- or province/state-specific subreddits and crafting communities discuss donation opportunities. Ravelry has 160 charitable groups as of the time of this blog post (April 2025), some specific to local areas and some nationwide.
• Nationwide Charities with Local Drop-Offs: Some organizations, like the Salvation Army, have local donation sites, even in small towns.
• Religious Centres: Churches, synagogues, temples, mosques, and monasteries often run charitable drives for homeless shelters, refugee families, and people in crisis. Even if you are not part of their faith, these communities are often well-connected and aware of where help is needed.
• Food Banks & Grocery Stores: Some food banks accept new clothing and handmade items in addition to non-perishable food. Reach out to your local food bank to ask if handmade donations can be included in their food collection bins.
• Hospitals & Clinics: Many are connected to organizations that support those in need, often sharing information through posters or community boards. Ask how you can contribute handmade items to their efforts.
• Community Centres: These often work with charities for local sports events or craft shows and may know of groups accepting handmade donations.
• Local Yarn Shops & Craft Stores: The places where we source our materials are often deeply connected to the community. Many have information on local charities and donation opportunities, making them a great resource for giving back.

Charlotte often holds multiple strands together to knit the hats at a larger gauge, making them extra warm and cozy!

Things to Keep in Mind

• Check material requirements. Some places only accept specific fibres, such as acrylic, cotton, or superwash wool, especially for animal shelters, where items need to be washed easily.
• It’s not just about hats. Charities often need mittens, scarves, socks, blankets, toys, sweaters, and more. Anything and everything helps!
• Join a charity knitting group. Some local charity groups offer a place to meet up, where you can bond with fellow makers while crafting for a good cause, providing a great way to connect with people in our community.
• Start your own initiative. If nothing exists in your area, consider gathering friends to create a donation group!

The Evo Socks are another free pattern, perfect to keep toes warm when someone is in need.

Online Charities Accepting Handmade Donations

If local options are limited, you can still contribute through online organizations. Here are some charities that would love your handmade crafted items:

• Loose Ends: Matches makers with unfinished projects left behind by loved ones or those with disabilities, ensuring treasured pieces are completed. Learn more in our latest podcast episode of The SweetGeorgia Show featuring them!
• Knitted Knockers: Provides soft, knitted cotton breast prostheses for breast cancer survivors.
• Snuggles Project (& Many Animal Shelters): Accepts donations of animal blankets to provide comfort to shelter pets. Many also accept handmade toys.
• Knots of Love: Offers warm, comforting handmade hats for cancer patients undergoing treatment and blankets for babies in NICU incubators.
• Project Linus: Distributes blankets to children and families facing hardships, such as those affected by house fires, or to teens diagnosed with cancer or other debilitating diseases.
• The Izzy Doll Initiative: Creates small dolls for Canadian soldiers to distribute to children in war-torn areas as a gesture of peace.
• Hands Up Canada: Sometimes, children and babies end up in shelters, and during these challenging times, the organization works to provide essential items. They focus on creating diaper bags and toddler backpacks for these children, and they are always in need of handmade small blankets.

The Candystripe hat is a free pattern and a fantastic stash-busting project to gift to charity!

There are so many more organizations we wish we could mention. If you’re short on time or resources, many also accept cash donations or are looking for volunteers.

As you continue your Spring Stash-Down, we hope you’re inspired to explore ways to give back. Whether it’s donating yarn, finishing a WIP for someone in need, or creating something new, your generosity can bring warmth and comfort to others.

Join the Conversation & Community

Have you donated handmade items before? Do you know of a great organization accepting yarn and finished goods? We’d love to hear about your charity crafting! Join the conversation in the SweetGeorgia community, and let’s keep the giving spirit going.

We Invite You to Connect with Us:

• In the School of SweetGeorgia Forums. Our vibrant community is there to support you, with instructors and fellow members ready to answer questions and share guidance.
• Join our SweetGeorgia Discord to chat about fibre arts, share projects, and explore further topics like sewing, 3D printing, and machine knitting.
• Visit our SweetGeorgia Ravelry group, where we’ve been sharing yarn, fibre, patterns, and make-alongs since 2008.
• Follow us on Instagram and our SweetGeorgia YouTube for inspiration, how-to videos, podcasts, and more!
• Subscribe to our newsletter (below) for the latest pattern releases, colourway announcements, and make-alongs; you never miss what’s going on!

However you choose to participate, we’re happy to have you in the SweetGeorgia community.

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The post Handmade with Love: The Impact of Charity Crafting appeared first on SweetGeorgia Yarns.